1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fine tuning mechanism in a tremolo unit of an electric guitar, and more specifically to a fine tuning mechanism which is installed to perform fine adjustment of the tension of a string.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In electric guitars in general, a tremolo unit is installed at a body side and one end of a string is hooked to the tremolo unit, and on the other hand a peg is installed at a neck side and the other end of the string is wound on the peg and when the peg is rotated the tension of the string can be adjusted. However, since fine adjustment cannot be obtained by the peg, a fine tuning mechanism is installed at the side of the tremolo unit.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show a concrete structure of such constitution. Symbol a designates a tremolo unit, symbol b designates a body section of the tremolo unit a, and symbol c designates a block section extending downward from the body section b. Symbol d designates a string locking rod which is pivotally attached to a horizontal portion of the body section b and rotatable up and down, and a string locking hole e is opened at a position to the rear end side of the string locking rod d in the vertical direction. A string pushing piece f having a flange at a bottom portion thereof and formed in a nearly rectangular plate shape is installed in the string locking hole e, and the flange of the string pushing piece f is engaged with the bottom surface of the string locking rod d such that the string pushing piece f is slidable in the longitudinal direction. A string locking screw g is installed at a rearward position of the string locking rod d and is movable in the longitudinal direction. The string locking screw g is threadedly engaged with the string locking rod d and is aligned with the string pushing piece f so that one end of a string h can be grasped between the string locking rod d and the string pushing piece f. A rising section i is installed at a rear end side of the horizontal portion of the body section b, and a fine tuning screw j corresponding to the string locking screw g is installed on the rising section i and is movable up and down. When the fine tuning screw j is threadedly engaged in a downward direction, the string locking rod d can be rotated downwardly. That is, the string locking rod d is rotated downwardly, so that fine adjustment of the tension of the string h can be finally performed.
In a tremolo unit having the structure of the prior art, a fine tuning mechanism is projected upward. That is, since a rising section is installed at a rear end side of the body section as above described and a fine tuning screw is threadedly engaged with the rising section and is movable up and down, for example, when a muted a (performance method of performing where a hand is put on a bridge saddle so as to suppress the sound) is done, the hand may be caught by the fine tuning mechanism resulting in a malfunction in that the muted performance is obstructed.